Plans for much-needed children's centres at borough primary schools have hit the rocks because of a £665,000 shortfall in government funding - reports the Richmond & Twickenham Times.
Lowther Primary School, Barnes, was due to submit a planning application for its centre next week, but the cruel blow means the project is now in serious jeopardy because of a lack of cash.
And two other proposed children's centres - at Heathfield Primary and St Richard's, Ham - could also be forced to scale down.
The blow comes as a result of a failed application for additional funding from Richmond upon Thames Council.
Pat Hutchies, headteacher at Lowther Primary School, said north Barnes had been identified by the government as a key area for a children's centre.
She said: "One of the ideas of these types of centre is that they can deliver intermediate services, not just education.
"Health visitors could have a proper space not just a tiny chair in the corner of a room.
"This kind of service is hard to deliver at the moment in the area and it would have just been the most marvellous opportunity for families in the community.
"There will be a significant shortfall in the cost of what we want and what we should be delivering.
"North Barnes deserves the facility so we can deliver hard to access services.
"We are going to be campaigning to get the money - where there's a will there's a way.
"I think if you look at what is right, the community deserves it. It's extrememly disappointing."
She added the idea had been in the pipeline since the early 1990s, but it was only since the government pinpointed the area as part of a wider children's centre plan that dreams started becoming reality.
A Richmond Council spokesman said: "The three new-build children's centres, at Heathfield Infants, St Richard's with St Andrew's and Lowther Primary, are facing a combined shortfall of £655,000.
"The children's centre capital programme consultants, employed by the DfES to oversee the Children's Centre initiative, supported Richmond's request for additional funding.
Subsequently, however, the DfES has, initially, refused the funding.
"If Richmond does not receive the additional funding, then the council will have to rationalise its plans for children's centres schemes in the borough."
Showing posts with label richmond. Show all posts
Showing posts with label richmond. Show all posts
Thursday, 15 February 2007
Thursday, 18 January 2007
Health care cuts are 'half-baked' policies
Compulsory redundancies could cripple' our hospitals and cause residents' confidence in the NHS to plummet, it has been claimed - according to the Richmond & Twickenham Times.
According to research by the London Assembly Conservatives, as many as 2,500 jobs could be axed in NHS health trusts across south-west London, including Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond.
Tony Arbour, Richmond and Hounslow's Assembly member, said: "These latest figures show just how much this Government's half-baked policies are destabilising the NHS and making the work of local Primary Care Trusts and hospitals virtually impossible."
The research comes after a leaked Department of Health memo recently revealed there will be a critical shortage of nurses and GPs in the longer term. The memo contained proposals for 37,000 NHS job cuts across the capital within the next 12 months.
Tony Arbour AM added: "The prospect of job losses across the NHS in Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond will not only be unsettling for the staff themselves, but patients will also continue to lose confidence in the services the NHS should be providing at critical times in their lives.
"Kingston and the West Middlesex hospitals could be crippled if these proposals are implemented. I and my colleagues will resist them."
Kingston hospital, where many borough residents receive treatment, say they have been holding a number of vacant posts in anticipation of reduced activity or income and efficiency savings.
They confirmed that 20 clinical and administrative staff are at risk of redundancy, but claim that many of these will be redeployed into vacant posts within the trust.
A spokesman said: "The trust's consultation on workforce reductions has come to an end and decisions have been made as a result of feedback from staff and unions and it is vital to clarify that not all staff at risk will be made redundant."
According to research by the London Assembly Conservatives, as many as 2,500 jobs could be axed in NHS health trusts across south-west London, including Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond.
Tony Arbour, Richmond and Hounslow's Assembly member, said: "These latest figures show just how much this Government's half-baked policies are destabilising the NHS and making the work of local Primary Care Trusts and hospitals virtually impossible."
The research comes after a leaked Department of Health memo recently revealed there will be a critical shortage of nurses and GPs in the longer term. The memo contained proposals for 37,000 NHS job cuts across the capital within the next 12 months.
Tony Arbour AM added: "The prospect of job losses across the NHS in Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond will not only be unsettling for the staff themselves, but patients will also continue to lose confidence in the services the NHS should be providing at critical times in their lives.
"Kingston and the West Middlesex hospitals could be crippled if these proposals are implemented. I and my colleagues will resist them."
Kingston hospital, where many borough residents receive treatment, say they have been holding a number of vacant posts in anticipation of reduced activity or income and efficiency savings.
They confirmed that 20 clinical and administrative staff are at risk of redundancy, but claim that many of these will be redeployed into vacant posts within the trust.
A spokesman said: "The trust's consultation on workforce reductions has come to an end and decisions have been made as a result of feedback from staff and unions and it is vital to clarify that not all staff at risk will be made redundant."
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